My Wines

My Cellar

1978 and the New Zealand fine wine industry was almost non existent. We (Tim and I) pioneers-bigwere fresh from the “back to the land” movement of the late sixties. We wanted to make beautiful wine. We figured Tim’s masters in Animal Behaviour along with my unimpressive journalism career would be beneficial. Wrong. However we did have youth (temporary), self belief (unwarra... Read more

1978 and the New Zealand fine wine industry was almost non existent. We (Tim and I) pioneers-bigwere fresh from the “back to the land” movement of the late sixties. We wanted to make beautiful wine. We figured Tim’s masters in Animal Behaviour along with my unimpressive journalism career would be beneficial. Wrong. However we did have youth (temporary), self belief (unwarranted) and friends. At one stage we had four mortgages and three jobs each. Because there was so little known about basic viticulture in New Zealand we planted many varieties to see which ones were best suited to our soils. Merlot came and went as did Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and the dreaded Muller Thurgau. We were a bit hasty in rejecting Gewürztraminer and may look at that again. But we did it. We, and a whole heap of people – neighbours, family, friends and some fantastic staff. Each left a mark and many have gone onto work in bigger wineries or plant their own vineyard. Today 31 years later and we never feel we have it all sorted. We built our winery in 1980 with the intermittent help of a young chippie from down the road, using macrocarpa milled on site. Adapted from the orginal stables (circa 1850), it has been described by one writer as “an elegant shed” and houses the wine bar, office and white winery. At the back is a vineyard garden featuring an enormous Acer Negundo – perfect for climbing. Read less